Dental billing glossary

The dental billing and revenue cycle management terms you will run into while choosing a partner, explained in plain English. Updated July 6, 2026.

Revenue cycle management (RCM)

The full financial process of a dental visit, from insurance verification and claim submission through payment posting, denial management, and patient billing. Dental billing is one part of RCM; a full-service RCM partner handles the entire cycle rather than just submitting claims.

Payment posting

Recording insurance and patient payments against the right claim and procedure in the practice management system, including write-offs, adjustments, and the patient portion. Line-item posting enters each procedure's payment individually, which is more accurate than lump-sum posting but more time-consuming by hand.

Accounts receivable (A/R)

Money owed to the practice for services already provided but not yet paid, by insurers or patients. Aged A/R is grouped by how long it has been outstanding (0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 90-plus days); balances past 90 days are harder to collect and a common sign that billing has fallen behind.

Aging report

A report that buckets outstanding claims and balances by how many days they have gone unpaid. It is the primary tool for spotting stuck claims and prioritizing follow-up, and reputable billing companies work the aging report on a regular cadence.

Insurance verification

Confirming a patient's coverage, benefits, frequencies, and limitations before an appointment so claims are submitted correctly the first time. A full breakdown is more detailed (and more expensive) than a basic eligibility check.

EOB / ERA (835)

An Explanation of Benefits (EOB) is the payer's document explaining what it paid and why. An ERA, or Electronic Remittance Advice (the 835 file), is the electronic version that billing software can parse and post automatically. Reconciling ERAs against bank deposits catches payments that go missing.

Denial management

Identifying why a claim was denied or underpaid, correcting it, and resubmitting or appealing. Software can categorize denials, but working them (researching, correcting, and arguing with the payer) requires judgment, which is where full-service billing differs from posting-only automation.

Claim appeal

A formal request asking a payer to reconsider a denied or underpaid claim, usually with supporting documentation or narrative. Appeals recover revenue that would otherwise be written off, and a biller with clinical understanding tends to write more persuasive ones.

Secondary claim

A claim sent to a patient's second insurance plan after the primary plan has paid, common for patients with dual coverage. Secondaries are easy to forget and a frequent source of missed revenue when billing is behind.

Credentialing

Enrolling a provider with insurance plans so they can bill and be reimbursed as an in-network or participating provider. Credentialing is slow across the industry and often takes months, so delays directly affect a new provider's ability to collect.

Percentage of collections

A pricing model where the billing company charges a percentage of the money it collects, commonly 4 to 8% in full-service dental billing. It aligns the vendor with getting paid, but the cost rises automatically as the practice grows.

Clean claim rate

The share of claims accepted by the payer on first submission without errors or rejections. A higher clean-claim rate means faster payment and less rework; it is a common performance metric billing companies cite.

Practice management system (PMS)

The software a dental office runs on for scheduling, charting, and billing, such as Dentrix, Eaglesoft, or Open Dental. A billing company's ability to post directly into your PMS, rather than re-keying, is a meaningful efficiency and accuracy difference.

EFT reconciliation

Matching electronic funds transfer deposits from payers to the claims and postings they cover, and confirming the money actually landed in the bank. Three-way reconciliation ties the remittance, the posting, and the deposit together so missing payments surface quickly.